Origin of the Bearbees
by zanganito
Summary: Where did the paint-pooping bearbees ever come from anyway? Yuuri, Wolfram, and Greta uncover the truth behind one of Fredrick von Karbelnikoff's genetic experiments gone horribly awry!
1. Yuuri has a question

_**Forgotten History of Shin Makoku: The Secret Origin of the Bearbees**_

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><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I don't own Kyo kara Maou.

**Rated Teen:** For references to interspecies liaisons, artificial insemination, and genetic engineering.

**Pairing:** Slight/Implied Yuuram.

**Author's Notes**: Reviews are appreciated, especially constructive criticism.

Special thanks to ShinyShimaron for encouraging me to turn an awesome idea into a story!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Yuuri has a Question.<strong>

It was a wonderfully sunny day in Shin Makoku. Yuuri gazed out a castle window while holding his breath. He wished he was outside playing baseball. But instead he was dressed in his most formal attire and attempting to stand motionless in the center of a room while Wolfram painted.

Because of the smell, and since he didn't have anything else to do besides concentrate on not moving, Yuuri thought about various things. Who would win the World Series this year? How many baseball teams would he need to form in order to have the equivalent competition in Shin Makoku? Eventually his mind wandered to bearbees. They had been rather pleasant creatures. Maybe they were even sacred to some people like honey bees were on Earth*.

Yuuri wondered about the bearbees. Where had they come from? Why had they chosen Blood Pledge Castle for a nesting site? Where were they now?

He had once asked Murata where the bearbees had come from, and his friend's cryptic answer only served to make him more confused.

Murata had paused for a few minutes, deep in thought, before he had finally replied. "I'm not really certain, Shibuya. We didn't have them in Shinou's time. Something or other must have happened between one of my incarnations as the Sage. Although, if I had to guess on their origins, I'd say that one day a bear had a little bit too much fun while robbing a bee's nest if you know what I mean."

Yuuri still didn't understand what Murata had meant.

Yuuri had tried asking Conrad about the bearbees, but the soldier had suggested that Günter would be a better person to ask.

When he had tried asking Günter about the bearbees, his tutor had simply replied that the young Maou had much more important things to learn about.

These dead ends only served to make Yuuri more determined to find out about the bearbees.

Yuuri squinched his face up as he caught a whiff of the paint that Wolfram was using. If there was one thing Yuuri knew for certain about the bearbees, it was that their poop did not smell good. Even if it did make beautiful paint.

"Yuuri! Stop making those wimpy faces and try to look like a Maou!" Wolfram commanded imperially.

"I can't help it, Wolfram. That paint smells horrible." Yuuri complained.

"Hmmf!" huffed Wolfram. "I wouldn't expect you to appreciate…" Wolfram started gagging as the paint fumes finally started to affect him. He ran to the window and vomited his breakfast out onto some of the bushes below.

Yuuri breathed a sigh of relief. Whenever Wolfram got sick, the painting session was over for the day. Feeling slightly guilty at this thought, Yuuri walked over to the window to make sure Wolfram was okay.

Yuuri patted Wolfram's back as the blonde finished dry-heaving out the window. "Feeling any better, Wolfram?" he asked.

Wolfram nodded and straightened up slightly.

Yuuri figured this was as good a time as any to try asking someone else about the bearbees. Surely Wolfram would help him find out more.

"Hey, Wolfram," Yuuri began cautiously, making sure his fiancé wasn't about to start vomiting out the window again. "Do you know where the bearbees come from?"

Wolfram paused slightly before replying, "What kind of a question is that? They live up in the mountains somewhere, I think."

Yuuri decided he needed to be more specific. "No, I mean where did they first come from? I asked Murata about it once, and he told me that they didn't have bearbees in Shinou's time."

"Well why don't you decide what it is you mean before you start asking questions, wimp!" Wolfram demanded angrily before stomping out of the room and slamming the door.

Yuuri sighed. Maybe Wolfram was cranky since he had just been sick from bearbee paint fumes. Or maybe he just didn't like not knowing the answer to a question.

-ooo-ooo-

During the rest of the day, Yuuri noticed that Wolfram was suspiciously absent. There was no Wolfram to interrupt a Günter study-session or Gwendel paper-signing-fest. There was no Wolfram to comment on his lack of Maou-like table etiquette at lunch. And last of all, there was no Wolfram to accuse him of cheating while he practiced catch with Conrad.

When he returned to his room after a Wolfram-less dinner, Yuuri began to worry. Just as Yuuri was about to consider asking some soldiers to start searching for the young ex-prince, there was a noise at the doorknob, and a slightly tired Wolfram entered the room. There was some dust and a few cobwebs stuck to Wolfram's usually impeccable uniform.

"Wolfram!" Yuuri exclaimed. "Where have you been?"

"Doing my duty as the royal fiancé." Wolfram said as he walked over and handed Yuuri an old worn out book.

"What is this?" Yuuri asked, wondering what Wolfram meant.

"You wanted to find out about the bearbees." Wolfram said haughtily. "Or have you already forgotten about that?"

"No, of course not, wait…bearbees?" Yuuri exclaimed excitedly. "Where did you find this?"

"In the library archives." Wolfram said while brushing some dust off of his uniform.

Yuuri realized that Wolfram must have spent all day looking for the book he now held in his hands. All because he had asked a question about bearbees. "Thanks, Wolf. I really appreciate that you went through all that trouble to find this for me."

Wolfram pretended not to notice the compliment as he continued to brush dust and cobwebs from his uniform. But Yuuri noticed that he looked slightly pleased.

Yuuri looked down at the book in his hands and frowned slightly as he read the faded out gold lettering engraved on the front of the book:

_Fredrick von Karbelnikoff - Castle Laboratory Notes - Years 872-892_

"...von Karbelnikoff." Yuuri said as he felt his stomach tighten slightly. "I didn't know Anissina had anything to do with the bearbees."

"Look at the dates, wimp." Wolfram retorted angrily. "Obviously it was one of her ancestors from over 3,000 years ago."

"How can you be sure it's about bearbees?" Yuuri asked.

"There's a drawing of a bearbee on the back cover." Wolfram explained, slightly exasperated.

"Bearbees?" Greta flung open the door and burst into the room. "Greta wants to learn about the bearbees, Papa Yuuri."

"Sure, you can listen too." Yuuri said kindly, while patting his daughter's head. He wondered how long she had been listening at the door before coming in.

She giggled happily and sat down on a nearby chair to listen.

Yuuri ran his hand over the cover of the lab journal. It was worn, dusty, brittle, and cracked with age. Then he carefully opened the book and began to read…

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><p>*Buddhists consider bees sacred.<p> 


	2. Extreme Beekeeping

Thank you to Yumi-chan Hamano for reviewing my story!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kyo kara Maou, but I did create the characters of Fredrick von Karbelnikoff, Rosalinde von Voltaire, and Imker Weller (Imker is partially inspired by ShinyShimaron's "Weller Family History")! In true Kyo kara Maou ancestor tradition, they share a lot of the same amusing traits that their decedents have.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Extreme Beekeeping<strong>

_Once upon a time, and a very long time ago it was, there lived a brilliant scientist. His flaming red ruby colored hair radiated with scientific curiosity and his blue eyes glowed with unabated enthusiasm as he climbed the steep cliff. He painstakingly pulled himself up handhold by handhold. Fredrick von Karbelnikoff was willing to go to any extreme for science._

_Currently, he was fearlessly searching for a nest of cliff-dwelling honey bees. Not to obtain the sweet amber liquid like the honey hunters of old, no, Fredrick was after the bees themselves. The elusive insects had resisted domestication at the hands of lesser qualified mazoku. But Fredrick would use new and improved techniques in order to succeed where others had failed._

_As he pulled himself up onto a rock ledge, Fredrick heard the tantalizing buzzing produced by the insects he so valiantly seeked. In the distance he could finally spot his destination; a bustling bee hive was only a mere five meters from his current position! _

_But wait! Fredrick was not alone in his quest. He heard a low growling sound, and turned, only to come face to face with a ferocious mountain bear! The bear let out a terrifying roar, and Fredrick stepped backwards, only to lose his footing and fall off of the ledge._

_That would have been the end of our intrepid inventor if he hadn't caught onto an out-hanging root. As the bear roared again, more fiercely this time, Fredrick reached into his pocket and pulled out his newest invention…_

"Yuuri! What utter nonsense is this?" Wolfram demanded while snatching the lab journal from Yuuri's hands.

Yuuri just stared at Wolfram open-mouthed.

"Hmmph! Just as I suspected." Wolfram said while flipping through the journal. "The real lab notes begin later in the book. The first part was probably meant as a children's story."

Greta squealed at this. "Wow, Anissina's great-great-great-(x20)-grandfather was almost as amazing as she is!" She said while bouncing up and down on her chair. "Read some more, Papa Wolfram!"

Wolfram cleared his throat and brushed some hair back from his face.

Then he began reading from the journal.

_Date: The 21 day of Mai in the year 872 of Shinou_

_I had another fight with Rosalinde about keeping my bee-hives in the flower garden. They aren't quite domesticated yet and apparently the servants have been complaining about the stinging. Minor things really, she just has a hard time seeing the big picture sometimes._

_The removable frame hive design I came up with works quite well, and allows for improved management of the bees. I am confident one day that the peasants will adopt this technology as it would allow them the opportunity to have an additional source of income while improving their crop yields. My initial observations on the effects of pollination increasing crop production have shown…_

"This is boring." Wolfram commented as he stopped reading.

"Greta wants to hear more." Pouted Greta.

"Let's flip around then." Suggested Yuuri. "Maybe the part about the bearbees comes later."

At the mention of bearbees, Greta squealed and clapped her hands.

"Very well." Wolfram conceded as he proceeded to flip through the journal.

"Wait, what's that name?" Yuuri asked as something caught his eye on one of the pages.

"What name?" Wolfram asked suspiciously.

"There." Yuuri said while pointing at the journal. "Imker Weller. Do you think that was one of Conrad's ancestors?"

"I wouldn't know." Wolfram said while feigning indifference. "Humans have such short life spans that it makes keeping track of their ancestry tedious."

But he began reading the section anyway.

_Date: The 14 day of April in the year 889 of Shinou_

_Imker Weller arrived at the castle for a visit today. He's king of Dai Shimaron now. He looks a lot different from the last time I saw him._

_I mentioned to Rosalinde that she should probably make time to talk with Imker at some point, since by the next time any of us think about visiting Dai Shimaron, he'll probably be dead. Humans have such short lives. To my surprise she got all grouchy, kicked me out of her office, and then slammed the door on me. I can't imagine what could have possibly set her off._

_In other news, Imker's bees are doing well; he has over 100 colonies! And some other humans might start keeping bees. Wouldn't it be ironic if humans benefited more from the Karbelnikoff-style hive than mazoku?_

_I can't wait to show Imker my newest bee-related invention. I call it the instant-bee-my-lover-inseminator. I think it has great potential for more controlled selection and breeding of bees._

Fredrick steadied his hand as he used the forceps to grasp the stinger of the queen bee.

"See that part there?" he asked as he gestured for Imker to look at the insect through the I-see-tiny-things-inator. "The small groove above the stinger is where the honey bee semen needs to be inserted."

Imker nodded and then leaned back in his chair again.

"Does that only work with semen from bees?" Imker asked.

Fredrick thought about the question for a minute. "I'm not sure." He replied at last.

If the instant-bee-my-lover-inseminator worked with male gametes from other species, the possibilities would be endless.

"We could try it out on something..." Fredrick began as he was suddenly hit with an inspiration as he recalled his adventures on the day he had collected his first colony of wild bees. "Bears." He whispered, just realizing the awesomeness of the potential inter-species crossing.

"Shouldn't you experiment with something a little easier to get a hold of first?" Imker asked.

"No." By this time Fredrick had convinced himself that only bears would do. "It has to be bears." He insisted, jumping to his feet while his blue eyes glinted with what could only be described as crazed determination.

_Imker can be a hard person to understand sometimes. He doesn't say much, and you have to try and figure out what he is thinking. _

_He did come up with one amazing idea. We are going to try and use the instant-bee-my-lover-inseminator with a species other than honey bees! Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was bears. Sometimes I surprise myself with how incredibly brilliant I can be. Who else would have thought to cross bees with bears? _

_Anyhow, tomorrow Imker and I are going bear hunting. I mean obviously we have to collect…_

Wolfram's face turned red and he sputtered as he stopped reading.

"What's wrong, Papa Wolfram?" asked Greta.

Wolfram slowly regained his composure, "Yuuri, I don't think some of the things in this lab journal are appropriate for children."

This caused Greta to pout once again. "Greta wants to learn about the bearbees!" she whined.

Yuuri scratched his head and thought quickly. "Hey, Wolf, maybe you could just skip over the inappropriate parts."

"That's what I was planning on doing anyway." Wolfram huffed.

_Date: The 15 day of Yuni, year 889 of Shinou_

_I finally had a success. One of the queens that I crossed with a bear has laid eggs and the encased pupae should be hatching any day now. That is, if they are anything like honey bees. I have no idea what to expect since I blindly mixed the two together as it were._

Fredrick watched the comb with anticipation. Dark colored mandibles appeared as some of the older pupae began to chew their way out of the cells.

_The offspring are hairier than a normal honey bee. Their over-all shape and size is similar to that of the bee, but I think that can be attributed to the fact that they came from the eggs of their mother. They are nearly twice the size of a normal bee, but I was hoping for a size that was more intermediate between the two species. One promising development is that instead of six legs, they have four paws. And on the end of each paw they have five stingers. It should be interesting to observe if they have inherited any of the social characteristics of the honey bees._

Fredrick watched the newly emerged bearbees tumble about and test out their wings.

Suddenly, one of them made a piping noise and they all ran towards the hall.

Fredrick tried to cut them off, but about twenty escaped. He managed to shove the other thirty into a jar, and swore as one of them stung him with a claw. It was more painful than the honey bee stings he was used to.

Fredrick froze as he heard shrieking coming from the hallway. He ran out to investigate, fearing the worst.

A very imposing, very angry, very stung, Rosalinde von Voltaire stood in front of him with her arms crossed and eyebrows drawn into a formidable scowl. She was not amused with his latest invention.

_Date: The 16 day of Yuni, year 889 of Shinou_

_After a long discussion with Rosalinde, I have concluded that crossing bears and bees with the instant-bee-my-lover-inseminator was a…FAILURE!_

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Don't worry; Fredrick hasn't given up on making bearbees. Please Review!


	3. The Amazing Etch A Sketch DNA Resplicer

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kyo kara Maou.

**Author's Notes:** Thanks to Yumi-chan Hamano and Lyell for leaving reviews!

And as a response to Lyell's review: Sadly, Fredrick is not responsible for all the unusual animals in Shin Makoku. But Anissina has lots of other amazing ancestors! Nadine von Karbelnikoff was a brilliant inventor and fearless vegan activist! Unfortunately, she was only able to use her now-you-don't-want-to-eat-meat-anymore-kun on sharks before she died in a tragic accident. Rumor has it that bears were next on her list of converts. But that's another story.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading chapter 3 of Fredrick's exciting escapades!

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: The Amazing Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer<strong>

"A failure? Oh no!" exclaimed Greta, very caught up in the story. "What's going to happen with the bearbees?"

"We already know the ending, remember?" Yuuri comforted her.

Greta brightened up and smiled.

Wolfram skipped ahead a few pages and then started reading again.

_Date: 12 day of Oktober year 891 of Shinou_

_I still can't seem to get bears and bees off of my mind. I think I finally understand where my previous invention went wrong. I didn't have enough control over the combination of characteristics. Most importantly, I need to be able to manipulate their behavior to make the resulting "bearbees" more predictable._

_I may have come up with an invention that will allow me to realize my ambitions. I call it the Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer._

_I think it might be a hit at this year's magical exhibition._

A small crowd had gathered to watch the demonstration of his Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer. Rosalinde stood towards the front of the gathered crowd with a look of _nothing had better go wrong with this invention_ on her face.

The resplicer had been very difficult to invent, but if it worked properly, it would be as easy as drawing a picture to use. He had decided not to make a bearbee for the demonstration, since he wanted to have more time to plan everything out. For now, he just needed to make something quick and simple. Something like crossing a fish with… a mazoku.

First, Fredrick explained to the gathered mazoku that he would need a source of DNA from which he could take the characteristics.

He took a fish fin, and inserted it into a beaker and added some purple liquid. The onlookers made an _oohh_ sound as the solution changed color. He opened a door on the machine and set the beaker inside.

"Now," Fredrick said, feeling more confident at being the center of attention, "I just need a source of mazoku DNA." He stepped closer to Rosalinde, reached up quickly and yanked a strand of hair from her head. She scowled slightly, but it was too late to protest.

Fredrick put Rosalinde's hair follicle in a different beaker and added some liquid. He placed the second inside the machine as well.

"Now, all I have to do is draw on this pad." Fredrick said, while picking up a writing tablet that was connected with wires to the larger oven dome part of the machine.

The onlookers stared at him, dumbfounded.

"You see? I programmed the Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer to automatically search for a corresponding gene when I draw in a characteristic." More blank looks greeted Fredrick's explanation. He sighed dramatically

"Look, if I draw a fish eyeball," he said trying to keep his explanation simple enough to understand "the machine will search for all the genes in the fish DNA that make the eyeball possible. Those genes will be used, and the animal will end up with a fish eye."

Everyone nodded as if they understood.

Fredrick hastily finished sketching in fish and mazoku characteristics on the pad. Then he dramatically hit the red "commence genome sequencing and resplicing" button

The machine beeped and whirled as it configured Fredrick's instructions into a complete set of chromosomes.

The crowd stepped back and gasped as the machine started billowing smoke and producing sparks.

Finally, a chiming sound was heard, and a small, bluish-gray gelatinous egg slowly rolled down the chute on the side of the machine.

Fredrick picked the egg up and held it in front of the crowd triumphantly.

"That's it?" a blonde mazoku yelled from the crowd. "All that time, and all you got was one lousy egg?" The mazoku in question stomped off in a huff muttering something about "charlatans" under his breath.

_Date: 24 day of Oktober, year 891 of Shinou_

_The fish-mazoku that I made for the magical exhibition hatched yesterday. They're nothing really to be proud of - they just look like really ugly fish. But at least now I know that my Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer actually works! And you know what that means - next I'm making BEARBEES!_

_I threw most of the fish things in Shinou's fountain. I hope Rosalinde doesn't have a conniption. _

Yuuri looked a little green. "Eh? So that's where the mermaids came from?" he asked uncertainly.

"I'm not certain I believe most of the nonsense written in here." Wolfram said suspiciously, setting the journal down.

"BEARBEES!" shouted Greta, sensing that Wolfram was considering not continuing the story. "Greta wants to hear about the bearbees, Papa Wolfram!"

Wolfram sighed, picked up the journal, and continued reading.

_Date: 26 day of Oktober, year 891 of Shinou_

_I have learned several things from creating the fish-mazoku. One is that I need to be very specific in describing every single trait of the resulting organism; otherwise the Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer will pick sequences at random._

_So, I have gone "back to the basics" so to speak. I need to observe all expressed traits of both bees and bears, then pick and chose the best traits that ought to be expressed in a hybrid offspring of the two._

It was a gloriously warm sunny day in Shin Makoku. It was the type of day that had honey bee foragers happily humming as they collected pollen and nectar from flowers around the castle.

The maids were not enjoying the day of sunshine. They anxiously watched from a castle window as Lord von Karbelnikoff started taking one of his hives apart in order to observe the bees. Quite logically, they used this time to gossip.

"I don't understand why Lord von Karbelnikoff spends so much time with his inventions and those bees." Gloria said. "He needs to spend more time keeping Lady von Voltaire in a good mood, if you know what I mean." She finished with a wink.

"Are they together?" asked Merlot.

"Who else would he be seeing?" asked Gloria.

"Well I heard that he spent a whole week camping with the King of Dai Shimaron." said Fettuccini. "Lord von Karbelnikoff claimed it was to hunt bears, of course. But I wonder what else they were doing…"

"A love triangle, how exciting!" squealed Gloria.

The maids giggled as they continued to discuss all the potential love affairs that could be taking place within the castle.

-ooo-ooo-

_I have compiled a list of bee traits to be used in the bearbees:_

_1. Wings, coupled with small size, allow them to fly. This is certainly a characteristic I intend to keep in the offspring. I will just have to make certain that the end size I choose is not too massive for their wings to handle._

Fredrick paused for a few minutes, as he continued to take the hive apart. The once happy buzzing had changed into a menacing "roar" after he had accidentally dropped a few of the frames that the bees were on. He could smell the faint odor of banana that meant the bees were unhappy and would soon begin stinging in response to the threat.

_2. Communication by Pheromones: This is of course important if the bearbees need to fight off any potential threats. _

_3. A stinging appendage: a must, of course. I think that replacing a bear claw with a bee stinger is a good idea._

_4. Complete metamorphosis: having a larval stage that is different from the adult opens up all kinds of possibilities _

_5. Simplified brain: The stimulus:response behavior of bees makes them predictable and easy to control. A more complicated brain may only bring problems._

After he finished composing the mental list of desirable bee traits, Fredrick closed up the bee hive and headed back towards the castle. He frowned slightly as he heard some of the maids giggling. It was a shame really, think of all the things they could potentially accomplish if they spent their free time studying science instead of gossiping!

_I have also compiled a list of bear traits (from memory, of course. But I think that my observations are still valid:_

_1. Enormous size: One of the intimidating features of a bear is the sheer size of it. I will however, have to scale down the size in order for them to be able to use wings. That is a thing of great disappointment._

_2. Mammalian respiratory and circulatory systems. Having lungs and veins is superior to the open systems contained by the insects. Especially if the bearbees are to be large._

_3. Fur._

_4. Teeth: The teeth need to bee as sharp and long as possible._

_I have decided to add a few additional traits as well, if possible. I think it would be beneficial to have the larvae feed on something that is readily available. The overflow from the latrines, for example, is full of wasted nutrients. _

_I am also planning on making them loyal defenders of the castle. (Who knows, Rosalinde may be pleased enough to let me have my instant-bee-my-lover-inseminator back.)_

"Oh. This doesn't sound like the bearbees at all!" Greta exclaimed. "When are we going to see the bearbees?"

"How did they know all these things 3,000 years ago?" Yuuri wondered.

"If I don't understand this gibberish, then it doesn't mean anything." Wolfram said self-righteously.

"Hey, maybe we should have a snack before we continue reading." Yuuri suggested.

"Ok." said Greta. She smiled at her parents in a cute way that let them know that there was no way they would get out of reading the rest of the journal to her.

Wolfram looked relieved at the break as he set the journal down on an edge of the royal bed.

For a reason he could not explain, Yuuri had a sudden craving for fish sticks.


	4. Bearbees!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kyo kara Maou.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: Bearbees!<strong>

When Yuuri, Wolfram, and Greta arrived in the castle kitchen, they found that Effie had been baking cookies. Effie was always baking sweets for no apparent reason. Sometimes Yuuri wondered if Effie's baking addiction wasted castle supplies. But he always decided that such a question really wasn't all that important whenever he happened to be hungry during an Effie baking-spree.

Greta ran over and picked one up. "How cute!" she exclaimed. "Look, Papa, Effie made a bearbee shaped cookie!"

"Effie, will you teach me how to make bearbee cookies tomorrow?" Greta asked hopefully.

"Of course," Effie said with a sweet smile. "We can make them tomorrow afternoon if you like, Princess."

"Thank you Effie!" Greta said as she began to eat her bearbee cookie.

Yuuri picked up a dragon-shaped cooked off of the tray and handed it to Wolfram. Then he picked out a mermaid-shaped cookie for himself.

-ooo-ooo-

"His Majesty and Lord von Blielfeld seem to be getting along well today." said Doria.

The maids all nodded in agreement. It was always a good day for them when Wolfram refrained from throwing fireballs in the castle. Fire damage was hard to clean up.

"Do you think that…" began Lazania.

The maids looked over at Wolfram, Yuuri, and Greta eating cookies and laughing together at the table. They squealed simultaneously, then busied themselves with maid work before anyone at the table could glance over in confusion.

-ooo-ooo-

"Hey," Yuuri began, after he, Wolfram and Greta had returned to the royal chambers after finishing their royal snack. "It's getting kind of late, maybe we should read the rest of the journal tomorrow."

"Greta wants to hear about the BEARBEES now!" Greta pouted.

Yuuri realized that there would be no sleeping until the rest of the journal was read. He picked it up and opened it towards the end.

Something small and dried out slipped from between the pages of the journal and fluttered to the floor. Yuuri bent down to pick it up, and found that it was a bee. It looked almost comical in this two-dimensional form; with legs outstretched front and back, wings pressed neatly down to its side, and a paper-thin, but wider than normal head and abdomen.

Yuuri knew that some people would press and dry flowers inside of a book. Had someone else tried to do the same with a bee? Or had the unfortunate insect merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

He handed the dried flattened out bee to Greta, who solemnly guarded it in one of her pockets.

Yuuri wondered briefly what other secrets the journal held.

"I hope you have enough sense to skip over the boring parts, wimp." Wolfram said with a glare.

Yuuri gulped and began reading.

_Date: 10 day of Dezember, year 891 of Shinou_

_Rosalinde's niece came to visit and I'm stuck babysitting. _

_I am entirely convinced that Mildred is not in fact Rosalinde's niece, but instead a fury summoned from the deepest depths of Hades to torment me._

_What else could explain all of the broken glassware? Or the never-ending persistent questions that can be extended to infinity with the use of one word - "why?"_

Fredrick glanced up in annoyance from his lab book.

"What's this?" Mildred asked while picking up a corked vial filled with blue liquid and shaking it.

"Put that down!" demanded Fredrick.

"Why?" asked Mildred.

"Because, it's dangerous!" replied Fredrick.

"Why?" asked Mildred while throwing the tube up in the air. She failed to catch it on the way down, and it fell to the floor with a crash. "Uh-oh, it broke!" Mildred said happily.

"Mildred, why don't you go check on your aunt Rosalinde?" Fredrick said through gritted teeth.

"Why?" asked Mildred.

"Because I have to clean up this glass." Fredrick said calmly, willing himself not to lose his temper.

"Why?" asked Mildred.

Fredrick ignored the last question and began carefully cleaning up the broken glass and blue liquid. Hopefully he could get it cleaned up before it burned a hole completely through the floor.

_Date: 18 day of Dezember, year 891 of Shinou_

_As expected, watching the little hellion has been a serious setback to my research. I finally have a completed list of the desired traits for both bears and bees, along with the required DNA samples. But I have not had a moment of peace since Mildred has arrived. I want to ensure that nothing goes wrong when I draw in the instructions for the Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer. To accomplish that, I need relative peace and quiet._

_Date: 29 day of Dezember, year 891 of Shinou_

_Enough is enough. I have waited too long for this day to be thwarted by a 32-year old. At least I think that is how old Mildred is: I never asked. _

_I figure I can obtain enough hours of peace and quiet during the night to draw in the bearbee. The resplicer will probably have to run for a while since the coding is more complex this time, but I think it should produce some eggs by morning!_

Mildred entered the dark laboratory to find it was empty. She pouted as she realized that meant that Fredrick wasn't around to entertain her. She was almost certain she had heard some noises. She was about to leave when she noticed that one of Fredrick's inventions was blinking its lights and making funny beeping noises. Perhaps she should check it out.

Mildred stood in front of something that looked like a dome-shaped bread-baking brick oven with a drawing pad attached with some wires. Naturally curious, she picked up the drawing pad to se what was written on it.

"Oh," Mildred said as she looked over the drawing. "This isn't cute at all." Then she lifted a pen to make the necessary changes.

_Date: 30 day of Dezember, year 891 of Shinou_

_I returned to the lab and found that around four dozen eggs have been produced. I was ecstatic until I happened to glance at the etch-A-sketch pad. Someone scribbled all over it! The horror! I can only hope that the coding had already been completed before a certain someone decided to draw hearts and cutesy bears all over my delicate equipment._

_Date: 5 day of Yanuar, year 892 of Shinou_

_I informed Rosalinde that her brat of a niece most likely ruined one of my experiments. And do you know what? She just smirked at me! _

_I put the eggs down in the basement of the castle. They might not end up how I intended, but I might as well wait and see how they turn out._

_I won't have much of a chance to get started again over the next week, since Rosalinde is going to become the next Maou, and everyone in the castle is expected to make a huge fuss over it._

_Date: 12 day of Yanuar, year 892 of Shinou_

_Rosalinde was not pleased with the fish things in Shinou's fountain. Or the bearbee larvae in the castle basement._

_And when I tried to point out that HER niece had been the one to mess with my inventions, she said something about "learning to be responsible" and other such things. But at the end of her long sleep-inducing lecture she pulled out a piece of paper and proclaimed that my Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer was now a forbidden magical artifact! _

_I think this whole Maou thing is going to her head._

_And to top it off, she decreed that I would be banned from inventing anything else for the next 50 years! Can you believe it? What a…_

Yuuri cleared his throat, glanced over at Greta, who was still listening with rapt attention, sighed and continued reading.

_But at least I have the product of my final invention: the bearbees. I fear they may not come out as intended because of the interference. Of the various scrawls on the Magic-Etch-A-Sketch-DNA-Resplicer, I have managed to decipher a few things._

_The over-all appearance is cutesy and whimsical. (I still haven't figured out what the random hearts drawn around everywhere could possibly mean.)_

_They do not appear to have claws or stingers. This is a thing of immense disappointment._

_They poop out rainbow paint. What the…_

"Yuuri!" Wolfram exclaimed, exasperated.

"I'm skipping the boring parts, Wolfram," Yuuri said defensively. "I need to keep reading since I'm almost at the end."

Wolfram muttered something about "Mazoku that shouldn't be considered noble," but stopped when he noticed the slight frown that Greta was giving him.

_Date: 27 day of Yanuar, year 892 of Shinou_

_The larvae have pupated and have spun giant cocoons. It was re-assuring to note that the larvae are for the most part, as I intended: self-sufficient, and with a talent for eating waste that will surely prove beneficial in years to come. However, I can't help but wonder how this larval self-sufficiency will affect the social structure of the resulting bearbees since there is now no need for them to care for their young._

_Date: 28 day of Yanuar, Year 892 of Shinou_

_The bearbee cocoons are glowing but have shown no signs of hatching. _

Fredrick stared at the glowing encased pupae that hung from the ceiling of the castle basement.

Mildred had followed him, as usual, and she was staring at the pupae as well, the glowing light radiating off of her face. For once, she was silent. But good things never lasted long.

"What are those things doing?" she asked.

"They're changing into adults." Fredrick explained, not bothering to mention that "they" were one of his failed experiments, all thanks to Mildred.

Mildred watched the glowing pupae for a few moments longer, scrunching her face up as if she was thinking about something. Finally, she seemed to have come to a conclusion. "They're so cute!" she exclaimed while walking up closer to one of the pupae. "I love them." she whispered as she wrapped her arms around the encased pupa and gave it a hug.

The bearbee pupa glowed brighter as Mildred finished her hug and stepped back. After about thirty seconds of increased glowing by all of the pupae, the casings imploded simultaneously as dozens of adult bearbees emerged.

"So cute!" Mildred squealed as a bearbee landed on her arm.

"Nogysu!" said the bearbee.

Fredrick groaned as he watched the bearbees fly about overhead. They weren't what he had intended at all!

"Nogysu!" said another bearbee as it pooped on Fredrick's head.

Fredrick removed the bearbee feces with a handkerchief. The feces were sticky with a rainbow coloring. And they smelled like bear poop.

_Date: 30 day of Yanuar, Year 892 of Shinou_

_I have now had the opportunity to observe the adult form of the bearbees. It is as I feared: they are cute and whimsical with traits and a life cycle that makes absolutely no sense at all. _

_The fact that I am partially responsible for creating such a monstrosity fills me with never-ending guilt and shame. Even worse is that Rosalinde and most of the castle inhabitants have expressed approval at how the bearbees have turn out._

_My only comfort is that perhaps the bearbees will not last long, as they do not care for their young and are dependent on the love of a random stranger in order to emerge as adults. I doubt very many individuals exist who are dense enough to randomly hug a glowing pupa…_

Yuuri turned slightly red and stopped reading the journal. "I, uh, think that's the end of the bearbee story, Greta." he said sheepishly.

"What an exciting story!" Greta squealed. "Greta wants to hear it again!"

_**The End**_

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: Thank you for reading! I hope it was enjoyable.

Please review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated since it helps me improve my writing.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited this story!

(I have a lot of ideas for another Kyo kara Maoh story, so I made a poll on my profile so you can help me choose what to work on next if you are interested.)


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